Of 57 percent of respondents receiving a tax refund, 62 percent say they will use it to pay bills, with 39 percent planning to reserve a portion for emergencies and 15 percent stashing a portion for retirement.

Some 35 percent believe they are worse off today than a year ago, with 29 percent saying they are better off and 36 percent saying their situation is unchanged.

Some 48 percent believe the country’s best economic days are behind them, and 47 percent say the next generation will have to accept a lower standard of living.

Between 38 percent and 42 percent think neither Democrats and President Barack Obama nor the Republicans has a good plan to fix the economy.

“In so many ways, 2012 was another year of treading economic water,” poll spokesman Donald Levy said in a statement.

“While for so many New Yorkers little has changed in their financial lives, as we look forward, more than a third—about the same as a year ago—believe they will be better off on Tax Day 2014 than today.”

The survey was conducted April 2 through April 4, and April 7 through 10 with random telephone calls to 813 New York residents age 18 or older.